Supervisor Joel Weaver was not at Monday's meeting. He had previously spoke out against the project.

"I'm very pleased with what happened," said Holsopple.

CE Woods of Duncansville was awarded a $378,000 bid for the project, which will include an office portion and municipal shed.

The new building will be located along Route160 south just past Pomroy Corner. The site is located where the former stone election house used to sit.

Construction will begin based on the contractor's schedule.

And though he voted in favor of the project, Penrod still expressed some reservation.

"There's no doubt in my mind a new building is the best choice," he said. "It was just the problem or paying for it.

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"(I'm concerned) only to the point of putting too much burden on the taxpayers."

The project became possible after First Commonwealth Bank came through with a $375,000 loan package guaranteeing 2.99 percent for the first three years. After that the loan is capped at 6 percent.

"They wanted to get it to the place where we could afford it," said Holsopple.

A 2 percent PennVest loan for $50,000 has also been applied for.

The township will owe $2,086 per month to pay for the building. But has been setting aside 1/2 mill of tax money designated for a building for the last several years.

"We'll be able to make the payments with what is coming in," said Holsopple.

But Penrod's concern is what happens after the first three years.

"Three years from now it may be another $10,000 a year."

He hesitated for a while during the public comment session when pressured by residents to commit to the building, citing concerns about the future.

"This is a concern of mine. These people don't have enough to pay their taxes and to live," he said. "The concern is putting a hardship on the people."

However, in the end he voted in favor of the project.

That puts an end to months of conflict as to whether or not a building should be built. The supervisors have been hearing from parties on both sides at their meetings.

But, Monday's meeting only brought out a small contingent of vocal residents in favor of moving forward with the project.

"There's a couple here that want to drag their feet and wait for the merger. No. Get the building up," said Rich Holsopple.

He said there was no sense in waiting to see if a merger occurs several years down the road. The township should look forward to its future.

"If the merger does come then we've got the building started," he said. "The longer you wait the more it's going to cost in the end."

Resident Andy Tvardzik has also been vocal in favor of the project.

"I'm very happy with it and I feel it's going to benefit the entire township," he said.

He was not in favor of waiting for a merger or even merging with Paint Township.

"I'm not sold on it. I can't accept it," he said.

Tvardzik said the potential is there for the township to continue to grow.

"It's cheaper than anywhere else you'd go," he said.

Penrod continued to support the possibility of a merger for the good of the township.

"We will gain population which will put us over the 4,000 (population) figure, which will get us entitlement money," he said.

Other municipalities receiving entitlement money receive more than $100,000 per year. Without a merger, the township would have to wait for the results of the 2010 census to determine if they have a population of 4,000.

"There's roughly a million dollars we won't get until they next census," said Penrod.